I find it rather funny how Yamato and Musashi played a very minimal part in the war. They held off using them until the very end when they became hard pressed for ships. But in the beginning when they would have been most useful they were held in reserve.
I bet they could have had the mindset that these ships are so beatiful and powerful that had one been lost it would have hurt national pride. like if their most powerful warship is sunk...i makes Japan and the people feel more mortal. As if they were afraid to loose the one thing that they KNEW was BIGGER and STRONGER than anything the US had for most of the war. But then again i am just sorta thinking out loud too? Any one wanna add anything?

These giant battleships could not have been used earlier. Battleships required a large escourt to protect them against submarine and aircraft attacks. If the battleships would have been used they would have drained the resources of other operational groups. They were also too valuable to risk (kinda ironic to not use your most powerful ship because you were afraid it would lose). The death of Yamamatto also plunged the naval command into chaos. The command planned a very deliberate and cautious campaigne which would be the demise of their navy. They felt that the battleships would blaze their way into glory in decisive battles. Good intelligence and aircraft from the US prevented these pitched battles. These two mighty great white sharks were nipped to death by smaller sharks.

I agree. You don't park a brand new Mercedes in a bad area of town. The Japanese knew that a sizeable escort/defense force would be absolutely neccessary if those huge battleships set out for sea, against an enemy whom they great respect for. Ships such as the Yamato would present a target that the Americans simply could not resist

I agree also that the ships needed heavy escorts...however i posted the problem because the Japanese didn't use the ships when they would have been most effective.
That is during the Guadalcanal campagn. At least the Yamato (the Musashi may have still been going through the last stages of completion) was stationed at Truk , more or less as a base of operations for Yammamoto. The Japanese sent out old battleships of the Kirishima class and heavy forces of destroyers and cruisers. There were plenty of chances the Yamato could have been used in one of these raids, for the Japanese had plenty escorts. At this time the US air arm was weak enough to pose only a moderate threat...and as for the carriers...this was the US's weakest time in regards to carriers. So in any one of the conflicts the Yamato could have been used to some good in those night battles with US forces...and maybe even turned the tide in some of those battles.
However, once that campaign was over the great battleships lost their value fast...For the next time the two navy's would meet the US would have an over abundance of carriers...and the Japanese a lack of escorts.
the time for these ships was Guadalcanal...and Yamato sat in truk most of the time.

<FONT COLOR="#ff0000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by Ron on 29 November 2000 at 08:30 PM</font>